The Egyptian Consul General, Ambassador, Dr. Sameh Aboul-Enein and his Deputy Consul General, Mr. Bassel Taman paid a visit to Western Michigan University on August 7th and 8th 2022. It was brought to their attention that the researchers of the Earth Sciences Remote Sensing (ESRS) Facility, were conducting investigations on critical water and climate change-related studies that are of prime importance to Egypt’s livelihood and prosperity.
Dr. Mohamed Sultan, the Director of the ESRS and his research team, presented their analysis of the challenges posed by the construction of the Great Ethiopian Renascence Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, and the projected impacts of climate change on Egypt’s freshwater supplies and its landforms. They also discussed the optimum solutions for those challenges. Dr. Stephanie Peterson, the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Heather Petcovic, the Chair of the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences attended the presentations.
Ambassador Aboul-Enein took this opportunity to meet with Western’s Egyptian students, alums, staff, and faculty over a dinner gathering on August 7th. It was a warm, open, and instructive gathering for all the attendees. The Ambassador toured the main library at WMU, the Michigan Geological Survey that hosts all the subsurface data collection of the State of Michigan and the Michigan Repository for Research and Education (MGRRE). He met with President Edward Montgomery, Dr. Remzi Seker, the Vice President for Research and Innovation, and Dr. Paulo Zagalo-Melo, Associate Provost Haenicke Institute for Global Education over lunch and discussed opportunities for joint research and educational programs between WMU and Egyptian private and public schools.